Multiple Choices

Photo by Ross Brinkerhoff

By Marcia Nehemiah

“When you have a million choices, you have no choice at all.”
— Barry Schwartz, “The Paradox of Choice”

choose one starkist chicken of the sea bumble bee albacore chunk white chunk lite in oil in water 3 oz 6 oz then choose one paper or plastic or reuseable then choose one of the 275,232 books published in this country this year after you navigate through 432 emails in your inbox not counting the spam then choose one of the one billion facebook users who should all be friends then click on one of the three hundred million photos they upload every month then choose one of the 234 million websites with all the information you need right now

6 Ways to Increase Your Happiness! 3 Ways to Forget! 7 steps to overcome the past! 5 best things to do for your relationship! 6 must-read rules to grill by!

then choose one of the one billion YouTube videos posted today sort through it all like a pile of socks covering the continent then choose one of the 126 million blogs of outrage and minutia then choose one of the 4 billion Flickr Photos then choose one of the hundred must-have droid apps or the 43,000 Netflix movies then choose one white popcorn yellow popcorn organic microwave stovetop butter plain salt no salt brand name store brand then choose one of the thousand places to visit before you die then press 1 for English then press 1 for customer service 1 for the money 2 for the show 3 to get ready and 4 to go then stay your call is being answered your call is important or

hang up and

sit all day brookside watch pale fish scales star kissed by the sun that slants from a remote spot in the galaxy to this tiny planet filled with bees doing their waggle dance red flash of tanager deer rustle red oak larch the stillness of mountains